


Petrichor

by TsingaDark



Series: BTS Spooky Month [7]
Category: The Rain (TV 2018), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: (not of the main characters), Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on the show The Rain, Implied/Referenced Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:29:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27285700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsingaDark/pseuds/TsingaDark
Summary: At first, Jungkook can’t see anything other than rain, the sound of it soothing and comforting. It takes him a second to realise that there’s more than the rain outside, but when he does, he can’t do anything other but sharply inhale.There are bodies. Everywhere.or: Jungkook is at home when the deadly rain starts falling. Yoongi isn't.
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook/Min Yoongi | Suga
Series: BTS Spooky Month [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/837936
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61
Collections: 2020 Spooky Yoonkook Festa





	Petrichor

**Author's Note:**

> I originally started writing this for yoonkook week (like 2019??) and then thought about posting it for spooky week last year but felt too insecure about it :( but now! this fic can finally see the light of day 😂 enjoy

It happens on an ordinary Thursday. 

It’s been cloudy since Jungkook woke up but no rain has fallen yet, much to his dismay. There’s nothing better than enjoying a day in, reading or drawing or heck, even studying, with the sound of falling rain in the background. When it’s summer, Jungkook even likes being caught unawares by a sudden summer shower, getting drenched by warm rain in seconds. It’s April though, not quite warm enough yet for that to be pleasant. 

Jungkook’s just settled down at the kitchen table, his coursework spread over the entire surface, when his phone vibrates. At first, he ignores it since he's finally managed to motivate himself to work and doesn’t want to be dragged into a texting meme war by Taehyung, but his phone doesn’t stop. He gets up to grab it from the kitchen counter where he put it down earlier to take a look at the caller ID. It’s Jimin.

Just as he’s contemplating if he should even bother accepting the call, the vibrating abruptly stops. A few seconds later, it picks up again. Jungkook sighs and accepts the call.

“Hello?”

“ _Jungkook_!” Jimin all but yells. There’s the sound of a television in the background but not loud enough that Jungkook can make out what show is playing.

“Uh, yes?” Jungkook sits back down at the kitchen table, eyeing all the texts he still has to read for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day.

“Where are you?” Jimin’s voice sounds hectic, urgent. 

“Uh, why?” Jungkook asks. He really hopes Jimin isn’t calling again just because he and Taehyung have decided Jungkook should not stay at home on a Thursday evening and should instead accompany them to a party. He’s had one too many hangovers while having to pay attention in class on Fridays.

“Just tell me _where_ the fuck you are,” Jimin hisses, and okay. He sounds kind of angry. 

“I’m at home,” Jungkook answers slowly. 

“Thank _god_. Fuck.” There’s a bit of rustling. “He’s safe, he’s at home,” Jimin says, probably to Taehyung.

“Um, did I miss anything?”

“Did you– oh my god, Jungkook. Turn on the news _right now_!”

“Okay,” Jungkook says but it comes out sounding like a question. He abandons his uni coursework and makes his way into the living room. It takes him a few seconds to locate the remote control – Yoongi has a habit of sticking it into the ridges of the sofa – but then he finally manages to turn it on. The TV automatically switches to the comedy channel Yoongi watches religiously but instead of the usual program, there’s a news coverage. Jungkook sinks down on the sofa, staring at the TV.

“–don’t really know what it is yet. What we do know is that it is in the rain. Everyone should stay indoors or seek shelter somewhere. Do not let the rain touch your skin,” the woman in the studio says. “There is no information on how lethal the rain is, but we have gotten reports from several cities about people succumbing to their injuries after too much exposure. The government has, as of yet, not given any statements regarding this incident, but the president will appear on TV shortly. Again, we advise everyone to stay inside– oh, I’ve just heard that we have a short clip of what is happening.”

A video takes up half of the screen, a small box underneath it stating it is showing the south side of Seoul. Jungkook can tell immediately that it’s not a professional video but rather from someone who was there and decided to film everything with their phone. The beginning is shaky, a bit blurry, but then it steadies. The person seems to film out of a window on ground level, showing a street with rows of shops next to each other. At first, Jungkook can’t see anything other than rain, the sound of it soothing and comforting. It takes him a second to realise that there’s more than the rain outside but when he does he can’t do anything other but sharply inhale. 

There are bodies. Everywhere. Not only that; there are people running through the rain, screaming and clutching their heads as if they’re in agonising pain. It’s like Jungkook has straight up been transported into a sci-fi horror film and is now watching the horrifying news report on what is coming straight towards where he lives. 

Someone in the video shouts something that Jungkook can’t understand and suddenly there’s movement, the video too shaky to see anything. Whoever’s holding the phone is running, to where or what from, Jungkook can’t tell. Before it can steady again, the video cuts off abruptly. 

For a few seconds, the reporter stares at the screen in the studio, just like Jungkook is staring at the TV. 

“Oh god,” he whispers. “ _Oh my god_.”

“Kookie,” Jimin says suddenly and Jungkook almost drops the phone. Despite it having been pressed to his ear, he’d forgotten it was there.

“Are all the windows closed? Did you lock the door?”

Jungkook feels dizzy, his thoughts going a hundred miles an hour. “I– I don’t know.”

“Check right now,” Jimin demands, his voice leaving no room for argument. “Kook-ah, please check all the windows right this instance.”

“I– Okay,” Jungkook says but stays seated. “Okay.”

It takes a few seconds for him to get up and move. He notices that he’s trembling when he checks if all the windows are properly closed. They are; Yoongi usually closes them before he leaves because he knows Jungkook will forget. 

Jungkook stops short in the middle of the kitchen. 

Yoongi.

Yoongi isn’t home. He went to class early that morning and should be finished now, will make his way back to the apartment.

Jungkook scrambles to get to the window as fast as he can. It’s not raining yet but he can see the dark clouds coming his way. Whatever it is that’s killing people, it’s going to come down where Jungkook is soon.

“Kook-ah, have you checked the windows yet?” Jimin asks. 

“Yoongi-hyung,” is all Jungkook manages to get out with fear gripping his heart. What if Yoongi is on his way right now and he doesn’t know? What if he hasn’t seen any news, won’t even think twice about stepping into the rain?

“Yoongi-hyung isn’t here. He– he had class and he’s– I have to go.” 

“Jungko–” Jungkook hangs up on Jimin with shaky hands and it takes several tries for him to open his phonebook and select Yoongi’s number. He tears up with frustration at how badly he’s trembling when he presses onto the green phone symbol. It only takes a few seconds before Yoongi picks up. Jungkook doesn’t wait for him to talk.

“Hyung? Where are you?” he asks hurriedly. He definitely understands now how Jimin must’ve felt earlier.

“Kook-ah. Are you okay?” Yoongi asks back and Jungkook wants to tear at his hair. Of course, Yoongi would want to know about him first.

“I’m okay, hyung. I’m at home. Jimin called me and I saw the news and I–” Jungkook takes a shaky breath in, trying to calm himself down. It doesn’t quite work. “You’re okay, though, right? You’re safe?”

“Don’t worry, Kookie,” Yoongi says and Jungkook starts worrying even more. “I promise I’m safe. We’ve barricaded ourselves in one of the rooms for now.”

“Okay.” Jungkook takes another deep breath, calms down marginally. “Okay.”

“Don’t go anywhere. Lock the front door and keep all the windows shut, no matter what.”

“I already–” Jungkook starts to say when he suddenly hears commotion in the background. Fear grips at his heart. “Hyung?”

“Jungkookie, listen. I’ll come home once the rain stops. I’m–” There’s the sound of rustling and then the horrible, horrible sound of someone screaming in agony. Jungkook has never in his life heard anything worse than this. Without a doubt, he knows he’s listening to someone dying.

“ _No_ , stay inside,” he rushes to say. “Please don’t go anywhere. _Please don’t_ – not for me. _Please_ , hyung.”

“Kook.” There’s urgency in Yoongi’s voice but before he can say anything else, there’s a loud crash on Yoongi’s side. “ _Shit_ –”

The line goes dead. 

“Hyung?” Jungkook asks anyway, even though he already knows Yoongi can’t hear him anymore. His hands shake so badly, he drops his phone when he tries to call Yoongi again. He falls onto his knees, not even feeling any pain at the impact, and scrambles to pick up the phone. The call doesn’t go through, neither does it the second and third time Jungkook tries. 

He’s distantly aware that his breath is coming too short, everything dizzy and disorientating. He draws his knees up to bury his head in between them, trying to will his heart to calm down. He tries to tell himself that Yoongi’s fine. It’s just the cell network that broke down, otherwise, he’d still be talking to Yoongi. And Yoongi promised he was safe. He wouldn’t lie about something like that, would he?

The thing is, Jungkook knows Yoongi cares for him. They’re best friends and they live together and Yoongi would do a lot for Jungkook just to make him happy. Jungkook also knows that Yoongi would never lie for himself but rather for others. Jungkook doesn’t want to admit to himself that Yoongi probably lied to him. Just to reassure him, to calm him down, to not make him worry.

Tears spill out of his eyes, making it even more difficult to breathe. He digs his fingers into his arms to keep himself afloat but the pain does nothing to distract him for the horrible reality of the situation. Yoongi should be here with him, not out there, not in the midst of whatever is happening to the world. 

He’s pulled out of his own thoughts when he suddenly hears a scream from outside. Like a chain reaction more yelling and wailing follows, each sound more piercing than the one before. Without thinking about it, Jungkook gets up, his feet carrying him over to the window. Much like with the video on the news, the first thing he sees is the rain. It almost acts like a curtain between Jungkook and the rest of the world, but then his eyes focus on what lies beyond. 

He sees people lying on the ground, writhing in agony, puking out what seems to be their stomach’s contents. It’s horrible and yet, Jungkook can’t look away. It’s like he’s frozen in place, destined to bear witness to this gruesome scene. 

Only when everyone on the street has stopped moving, Jungkook unfreezes. He turns around and simply lets himself fall, his back colliding painfully with the wall. He feels detached from reality, from himself. He doesn't understand how all of this is happening, why it is happening. 

He just wants to close his eyes and have everything _stop_.

***

 **Jungkook** [11:32]  
Hyung

[message not sent]

 **Jungkook** [11:33]  
I know you won’t get these  
but I  
I need you to stay safe  
please please please stay safe  
for me, hyung

[message not sent]

 **Jungkook** [11:35]  
I love you

[message not sent]

***

 **Yoongi** [12:03]  
Stay safe, Kookie  
I’m coming home. 

[message not sent]

***

The rain stops after not even an hour of torrential downpour. If it weren’t for the wetness on the streets, one could think it didn’t even rain at all. 

It did though. The bodies still lying on the street and sidewalk are proof of that. Jungkook took a quick look when the sound of rain pelting against the windows ceased. He wishes he hadn’t. He doesn’t think he will ever be able to erase the sight of the bodies, blood covering the ground and running towards the drains.

The worst thing though is that he still hasn’t heard anything from Yoongi. The cellphone network is still down, probably won’t start working again. He wishes he could tell Yoongi to stay safe, to not go outside, but even if he could, it would probably be useless. 

Yoongi has never been particularly good at doing what he’s told. And although in this case, it would be Jungkook asking him, his need to protect Jungkook would rule over protecting himself. Jungkook knows him well enough to be able to predict that Yoongi would do everything in his power to make sure that Jungkook’s okay. 

At least Jungkook has that comfort. Yoongi will come back to him in one piece, if only to keep Jungkook safe.

Still, it doesn’t stop Jungkook from worrying. After checking all of the windows once again – especially the one in the bathroom that keeps leaking no matter how many times they patch it up – he paces through the apartment, not able to sit still. 

He doesn’t quite know what to do. He doesn’t have the means to contact anyone and he also can’t go outside, because one, he isn’t stupid enough to risk his life, and second, he can’t leave anyway when he knows Yoongi is on his way. 

One hour of not being able to stay still eventually turns into two. Slowly, more clouds creep over the sky, cutting out the sun. Jungkook is sitting in front of the window again, not able to look away as dark clouds tower over the city, heavy with rain. It makes his hands tremble so he pushes them in between his legs. His phone is lying on the windowsill in front of him, not moving. Apart from the wind, there are no sounds, nothing that indicates any life. 

Earlier, he heard his neighbours leave their apartment. He was too scared to talk to them – he had seen one too many movies about the apocalypse and how it changed people – and too afraid to face the outside world, so he just listened to them hurrying down the stairs. He never saw them leave down the street.

It feels like he’s been sitting here for a lifetime rather than half an hour, thoughts racing through his mind as he keeps staring outside at the unmoving. Despite the dark clouds no rain falls. It’s a flimsy reassurance, made to be broken any second. A temporary comfort that Yoongi will be fine, that it’s not raining while he’s on his way, not doomed to die.

At least the electricity is still working, but Jungkook doesn’t even want to think about how they’re going to survive if they don’t even know if they can drink the water from the tab. Whatever’s in the rain that’s killing people will surely soon be everywhere. Quickly, Jungkook shoves that thought to the back of his mind. He grabs his phone from the window sill and unlocks it. There’s still no signal, no messages, nothing. It’s not that he expected there to be, but still, he hoped. Every minute without knowing if Yoongi is okay feels like someone is slowly pushing a knife into his chest, coming closer and closer to his heart. 

To distract himself, he gets up and starts to look for all water bottles and fizzy drinks that they have. There’s a liter of coke in the fridge that Yoongi bought for their regular movie night on Fridays. Jungkook realises there won’t be one for the first time since they started this little ritual, excluding the time Yoongi had a migraine and slept through the evening. He leaves the bottle in the fridge and makes his way to his room where he locates four bottles of water – one in his backpack, one on his side table and two underneath the bed where they must’ve rolled without him noticing. Thankfully, Yoongi’s room has even more, albeit some of them already opened. Jungkook makes it a habit to leave water bottles in Yoongi’s room because Yoongi tends to get so absorbed in his work he forgets to drink. The only way he won’t go hours without having any kind of liquid is when Jungkook places bottles on his work desk. 

Just as he’s on his way back the room is darkened even more by heavy clouds, almost swallowing the light entirely. Jungkook deposits the bottles on their kitchen table, shoving his now irrelevant notes to the side. He casts a glance outside, fully expecting the same view as earlier, death everywhere, but movement from the corner of his eye makes him stop short. He stumbles forwards, his hands coming up to grip the window sill, and stares outside. It’s hard to see anything with the clouds blocking out the sun but it doesn’t take long until Jungkook spots it again. A pink jacket, hood up, the person running along the street, close to the houses. It’s only when the person looks up, presumably to check the sky, that Jungkook realises he’s been holding his breath. He abruptly inhales and chokes, coughing with watery eyes, but he doesn’t look away, doesn’t stop following the pink jacket with his eyes even as he blinks away the tears.

He would recognise Yoongi’s mint hair everywhere, even if they were amidst a thousand people, even if Yoongi were a mile away, even when he’s wearing a pink jacket over his usual black leather jacket, just a few strands poking out. He’d always find him. 

Jungkook reaches out, almost wants to wrench open the window and scream Yoongi’s name. He stops himself at the last second, knows that it’s too dangerous with everything still being wet outside. Instead, he looks at Yoongi hurrying along the street, wills him to move faster, to come home.

The sudden loud crack of thunder tearing through the silence rips Jungkook’s gaze away from Yoongi and up to the sky.

“No, no, no,” Jungkook chokes out as the first drops of rain start to fall in the distance, big drops splashing to the ground and coating everything in a deathly shimmer. Quickly the rain comes closer, the clouds now moving rapidly across the sky. 

Another boom of thunder resonates and before Jungkook can even look down and try to find Yoongi, heavy rain splatters against the window, making Jungkook stumble backwards and into the table. The edge of it digs sharply into his back but he’s only distantly aware of the pain. Instead, an ache blooms in his chest, so deep and terrible that Jungkook has to press his hand to it. With trembling legs, he makes it back to the window, leans close enough to feel the cold seeping in, but the rain blurs his sight. It’s impossible to see anything but vague shapes, not nearly enough to clearly recognise anything. 

Even if Yoongi were there somewhere, lying in the street, Jungkook wouldn’t know. 

The realisation makes his breath catch in his throat. He tries to breathe in deeply but instead, he can feel his breath coming shorter and shorter, not enough air filling his lungs as he starts to hyperventilate. When he finally averts his eyes, it’s not just the rain blurring his view but the tears gathering in his eyes. He presses the heels of his hands to them and stumbles back against the table, trying his hardest to stay afloat but he feels himself sinking, falling further and further, his thoughts filled with nothing but _Yoongi_.

It takes a while for him to notice the heavy and loud sound of banging resonating through the flat, almost drowned out by the sound of Jungkook’s wildly beating heart and the downpour outside. With shaky breath, Jungkook lifts his head and listens. The banging doesn’t stop. In fact, it only gets louder and a few seconds later, there’s the call of his name.

Jungkook gets up so quickly he almost stumbles headfirst into the window. He pushes himself up and off the window sill with his hand and all but runs to the front door. He comes to a skidding stop in front of it just as he hears the clear yell of his name and wrenches open the door. 

“ _Hyung_.”

Yoongi is standing there, buried in the pink jacket that’s not his own. With a gloved hand, he tugs at the back of the hood. It falls down, revealing unruly mint hair, a mix of relief and pure terror on his face. 

“Kook-ah, oh my god,” Yoongi says, as if Jungkook was the one running around outside and escaping death by a hair’s breadth.

“Hyung,” Jungkook cries and steps forward, reaching for Yoongi, any part of him, to make sure he’s not just a figment of his imagination. His hand grasps at nothing.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Yoongi warns, panic in his voice. “Don’t touch me. It’s not safe.”

Jungkook flinches, stepping back into the safety of their shared flat. Only now he lets himself look away from Yoongi’s face, his gaze wandering down from the pink jacket to a pair of waterproof pants and plastic bags covering his sneakers.

“I need to get rid of these first.”

Jungkook nods, not trusting his voice to come out steady and unbroken. He can only watch with fear gripping his heart painfully as Yoongi steps out of the rainproof clothing one after the other. It’s only once he’s shrugged off the jacket, the pink fabric pooling on the ground, and tugged off his gloves that Jungkook reaches out and drags Yoongi forward. This time, Yoongi doesn’t resist, his arms wrapping around Jungkook, his hands desperately grabbing a fistful of Jungkook’s sweater. He’s warm and real, his breath hitting Jungkook’s neck as Jungkook buries his nose in Yoongi’s hair and inhales the sweet smell of his raspberry scented shampoo. 

“Hyung,” Jungkook mumbles, blinking rapidly to keep the tears in his eyes from spilling. He almost can’t believe he’s actually holding Yoongi in his arms, that he made it back safely. He wants to tell him, wants to say all the things he was too afraid to let out into the open before.

Yoongi pulls back and lets go of his sweater. Jungkook goes to protest but then Yoongi brushes Jungkook’s long hair out of his eyes, his gaze filled with fondness and pain that he can’t quite hide.

“Let’s get inside, okay?” Without waiting for a reply, he guides Jungkook backwards so that he can close the door behind them, leaving the horrors of the last few hours outside. 

“Are you okay?” Yoongi asks as they step further inside their apartment, his hands wandering from Jungkook’s face down his arms as if to check that everything’s still where it should be. His hands are trembling slightly. While still close to each other Jungkook pulls Yoongi to his bedroom. The blinds are still mostly closed since Yoongi never bothers with opening them all the way. 

“I’m okay, hyung, I promise,” Jungkook says, his voice scratchy as he sits down on the bed and pulls Yoongi down beside him. “I’m just– are _you_ okay? The rain– I thought–”

 _you might not come back_ , Jungkook thinks but doesn’t say. He doesn’t want to entertain the heart-wrenching possibility of anything but _this_ , Yoongi by his side. “I told you to stay safe, to not go outside.”

“I know,” Yoongi replies. He doesn’t sound the least bit regretful. Apologetic yes, but not like he’s sorry for having risked his life. “But I couldn’t– I couldn’t just _stay_ there.”

Yoongi lifts his hand and anxiously starts chewing on his cuticles. They’re already red from all the stress Yoongi’s had lately with deadlines. Jungkook reaches out and softly grasps Yoongi’s wrist, pulling his fingers away from his mouth. To stop Yoongi from chewing again, he lets their fingers intertwine after a moment’s thought. Yoongi doesn’t react.

“I _had_ to come back here,” he says instead, “back to you. Jungkook-ah, I–”

Jungkook lets his eyes roam over Yoongi’s face, the furrow between his eyebrows, the expression in his eyes. It’s clear that everything that happened while they were separated has left an impression. And yet Jungkook can still read Yoongi so well, knows deep in his heart what’s coming.

“I never told you this because I didn’t want to pressure you. I mean, we live together and I’m older, I didn’t want to put you in a position you knew no way out of. And I still stand by that, but now– everything’s changed and I want you to know–”

“I love you.”

Yoongi’s gaze shoots up, his eyes wide. “What?”

“I–,” Jungkook starts, surprised at himself that he blurted out how he’s felt for years. But Yoongi shows no signs of rejection and Jungkook is surer than ever that this is what Yoongi was leading up to. “I love you,” he says again and lets the corners of his mouth quirk up.

“You… love me,” Yoongi says. Jungkook can feel his hand trembling. “I– that’s– really?”

“Yes, really.” Jungkook lets out a small laugh, but then he remembers earlier and his expression falls. “The first thing I thought of was you. I was so scared, terrified that you were caught unawares and…” he trails off, doesn’t need to finish a sentence they both know the ending to. “I couldn’t bear the thought that I’d never told you, that maybe you’d never know. It made me realise how stupid I was being. Even if you didn’t love me like _that_ , you’d still love me anyway.”

“Yes,” Yoongi says immediately. He lifts his free hand and cups Jungkook’s jaw. His hand is pleasantly warm. “Always.”

Jungkook smiles lightly at that. He uses their joined hands to pull Yoongi closer, pressing up against his side and laying his head on Yoongi’s shoulder.

“It was the same for me,” Yoongi adds. The vibrations of his voice send tingles through his body. “I knew you were safe but I needed to make sure. I wanted to come back for myself but also for you, even if it meant endangering myself. There’s no point in all of this if I’m not with you.”

Jungkook feels Yoongi press a gentle kiss to his hair and closes his eyes, basking in the moment of calm and tranquillity. It won’t last forever, the reality of what has happened to the world will catch up to them but for now, he can pretend. 

“You haven’t said it back,” Jungkook whispers after a while, his heart beating fast despite being sure what Yoongi’s reply will be. 

For a second, Yoongi doesn’t say anything, but then he moves and guides Jungkook so that they’re face to face. He cups Jungkook’s face in his hands, his thumbs gently moving across Jungkook’s skin. 

“I love you,” he says softly, each word dripping with honesty and emotions so sincere that Jungkook can almost taste them. They warm him from the inside, making his chest feel free and tight all at once. He can’t help but smile, forgetting for a second why they’re in this situation in the first place, why they’ve laid their feelings bare. 

Yoongi moves closer, kissing Jungkook’s cheek and then the other one. “I love you.” He presses a kiss to his nose, in between his eyebrows, to the mole underneath Jungkook’s bottom lip. “I love you so much.”

It makes Jungkook giggle, the sound strangely loud in the room. He grabs Yoongi’s hand and pulls them away from his face, still smiling. The corners of Yoongi’s lips are pulled upwards, his gums showing in true happiness and Jungkook can’t help but tip forward to kiss him. 

“I love you, too.”

They end up on the bed, side by side, trading kisses and holding each other close. For now, they both ignore what’s to come. They don’t want to have to think about tomorrow or what they’ll have to do once they run out of supplies. How they’ll start thinking about their friends and will go looking for them. 

For now, it’s just them in their small apartment, safe and in love.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/TsingaDark)   
>  [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/tsingadark)   
>  [tumblr](https://tsingadark.tumblr.com/)   
> 


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